I think it is important that all those who are here are introduced to the knowledge that organizations such as the U.N. and NATO are the offsprings of a foreign policy doctrine called collective security that originated in none other than the United States.
I will not go thru the history of this but as most of you know or should know before World War I Europe was quite enthralled in dealing with its matters in only one way: war.
For centuries upon centuries the only language that European policy makers understood and grasped (and in some cases quite well for example Otto von Bismark) was that in order to be "safe" you need to bunch up and defeat militarily those who oppose the common order, thus we had balance of power.....
Let me also remind you, that after World War I when I guess a few people in Europe finally realized that "well balance of power is just not gonna work for us" they for the most part were vehemently opposed to the Idea of collective security proposed by then president Wilson. As a result of their opposition we have
the great failure of the League of Nations, one of the great Fiascos of the 20th century.
It was not after much of Europe had been levelled thanks to World War II that most came to have to accept collective security to protect against the Soviet menace and to ensure that they themselves would not blow each other up again.
So then, it is rather cynical, that the country which was foremost in defiying collective security all throughout the Cold War (France) because it impeded upon the "individuality of nations" is today the most ardent advocate of that precise system against the country that create it.
I for once am convinced that the French have no interest in seeing a resolution of the Iraq crisis be it political or otherwise; the goal of the French is to block the US, because as Degaulle so clearly put it the US can suffer from "Hyperpower" syndrome so it is France's job and responsability to check this disease. And sadly this French theory of US "hyperpower" has squarely mixed with the calls for a fair resolution of the Iraq issue, so today we find whole nations crying out AGAINST the US and not AGAINST a war...big difference which a lot of you and the fellow citizens of the world cannot make.
Its funny how a number of nations signed this vaunted resolution 1441 without the least bit intention of even attempting to look at it for the second timeif at least to make their judgement a little clearer. If the wording in it is too tough maybe they should have used those 7 weeks of debate they had to make it softer....
it was the biggest peace demonstration in the German history.
